Close Encounters: New Sci-Fi Hotel and Museum Bar Bring Aliens to Life in US

Posted by Elizabeth Alton on Wednesday, January 8th, 2014

Fans of Ridley Scott’s Alien and its sequels are familiar with the work of H.R. Giger. The renowned Swiss artist’s Necronom IV printserved as the inspiration for the creature in Scott’s famous sci-fi films. In fact, Scott was so intrigued by Giger’s unique visual style that he hired him to be part of the special effects team that brought the biomechanical creature to life on the silver screen. Nearly 35 years later, Giger’s alien will be reborn in the United States thanks to a partnership with Sci-Fi Hotel Founder Andy Davies.

In a recent announcement, Davies revealed that he’s teamed up with the artist to bring an authentic H.R. Giger Museum Bar to the United States. At the same time, the Sci-Fi Hotel Founder will be hard at work on his first hotel location. The hotel will feature otherworldly artwork, futuristic architectural design, and unusual elements that pay homage to some of the most popular sci-fi works of our time. Davies is focused on crafting a unique science fiction experience for guests with everything from room design to menu creation. The bar will be one of the hotel’s most intriguing installations, though the location for both has yet to be determined.

Currently, there are two other H.R. Giger Museum Bar locations, in Germany and Switzerland. These otherworldly destinations, which are designed to create an immersion for guests into Giger-inspired worlds, feature floor to ceiling artwork by the famous Swiss artist. The walls in both locations are adorned with large vertebrae that mimic the style of the alien in Ridley Scott’s famous films. The tables and chairs feature ornate, biomechanical skeletal elements inspired by H.R. Giger’s sculptures and paintings. The highly stylized environments leave guests feeling as though they’ve entered another dimension and stepped directly inside an alien creature.

While the sensation of being swallowed by an extraterrestrial being may be disconcerting to some, Davies hopes that Sci-Fi Hotel guests will find it oddly comforting. He says in a recent interview, “It’s the ultimate in ‘immersive’ art. Day and night, inside Giger Bar, you are enveloped within the womb of a mythical beast. It’s warm, inviting, even comforting, and just incredibly cool. Another key to the experience for me is contrast. It’s about contrast, juxtaposition. That feeling is something I want to convey in the US bar, by contrasting old versus new, clean versus biomechanical.”

Davies is currently scoping out potential locations for his project in major cities across the United States. Right now Seattle and New York are the top two contenders. He hopes to reveal the location of the first official Sci-Fi Hotel and H.R. Giger Museum Bar within the next few months. Until then, science fiction fans will be on the edge of their seats.